Read Nothing Like It in the World The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 Online
Authors: STEPHEN E. AMBROSE,Karolina Harris,Union Pacific Museum Collection
Bradford, Sam, 363, 365
brakemen, 24
brakes, whistle down, 182
bridges:
over American River, 107-8, 122
Big Trestle, 338-39, 346, 348, 353
Civil War construction of, 96
over Dale Creek, 221, 256, 258, 259-61, 262
on fire, 24
Howe truss used in, 26, 211
at Loup Fork, 175, 187
over Mississippi River, 30
over Missouri River, 30, 188, 260, 373
prefabricated sections for, 211
in Sierra Nevada, 154-55
as temporary structures, 288
over Truckee River, 237
weather damage to, 234, 361
of wood vs. iron, 252, 261
Brooks, B. S., 162
Brooks, James, 374, 375
Bross, William, 159
Brown, Arthur, 198, 234-35, 302-3, 304
Brown, Charles Leroy, 29
Browne, Percy, 215, 216, 221, 223
Browning, Orville Hickman, 238, 255, 261, 276, 305, 306, 313, 330-31, 333, 334
Buchanan, James, 61, 65-66
Buck, S. M., 201
buffalo, 143, 173, 257, 267
“Building of a Railway, The” (Clarke), 25
bumper, 182
Burch, John C., 59, 64-65, 66, 67
Burnettizer, 139-40
California:
agriculture in, 229
Chinese population of, 150-52, 161
n,
164-65, 243
CP route in,
343
first railroad built in, 56-58
gold discovered in, 30, 43, 48, 50, 52, 229
immigration to, 53-55, 243, 362
legislation on transcontinental railroad to, 61
mountainous barrier to, 146
railroad consolidation in, 246, 373, 379
sea routes to, 48-53, 56
state elections in, 74
statehood of, 18
transcontinental railroad link to, 250
wagon journeys to, 44-47, 52
California and Oregon Railroad, 246
California Central Railroad, 246
Campbell, Jim, 351
Canadian Pacific, 17-18
canals, 28
Cape Horn, railroad work at, 156-57, 159, 198, 307
Carnegie, Andrew, 270
Carson, Kit, 45
car toad, 182
Casement, Dan, 330, 354, 382
Civil War experience of, 18, 170-71
at completion ceremony, 363, 367
labor force maintained by, 179, 184, 211, 274, 277, 327, 329
track-laying operations run by, 170, 173-74, 210, 212, 226, 273-74, 351, 353
weather delays and, 207, 324-25
Casement, John S. “Jack,” 330, 354, 382
on alkali desert, 269
background of, 170, 330
Civil War experience of, 18, 170
at completion ceremony, 363, 367
construction workforce maintained by, 177, 179, 182, 184, 210, 211, 221, 274
on finance problems, 330, 342
Indian relations with, 209-10
Julesburg vice activities quelled by, 220
on living conditions, 169, 337
on rate of progress, 227, 228, 262, 277, 337
supply facilities built by, 190
track-laying operations run by, 170, 171, 173-74, 208, 209, 210, 212, 226, 273-74, 275, 323-24, 346, 351, 353
weather delays and, 207, 325, 361
casting, 119
cattle grazing, 267
Central Pacific Railroad (CP):
accidents on, 325-26
bridges constructed by, 107-8, 154-55, 234, 237, 338-39
camp train of, 313, 314
Chinese construction workers on, 18, 21, 149-58, 159, 161-62, 164-65, 198, 204-5, 231, 240-42, 243, 247, 298, 300, 308, 310, 327, 378
clearing of roadbeds for, 157-58
codes used by, 292
in completion ceremonies, 354, 360-62, 363-67
congressional legislation on, 77-81, 155
construction contracts of, 105-6, 288-90, 321, 342, 375
construction schedule of, 81, 102, 107, 165, 166, 204, 206
corporate management of, 19, 43, 106, 111, 112-13, 114, 115-16, 321
costs of, 71, 78, 102, 104, 106, 124, 147, 155, 161, 163, 165, 187, 200, 230, 231, 235, 245, 246, 247-48, 300-303, 372
county and municipal support of, 109, 148
eastern limit of, 95, 104, 155, 193-94, 225, 238, 254-55, 288, 289, 291, 312, 313, 315-17, 326-27, 332, 335, 339-40, 341, 345, 358
engineers of, 19, 105, 110, 114, 116, 118, 158
establishment of, 70-74, 365
financial management of, 102-3, 106, 110-11, 113, 121, 124, 147-49, 165-66, 196, 246-47, 298, 301, 321, 374
first runs made on, 117-18, 121, 306-8
freight and passenger rates charged by, 305
government bonds for, 102, 108, 109, 121, 123, 148-49, 165, 166, 195, 230, 238, 245, 312, 313, 330-31, 333-35
grading work on, 118, 119-20, 147, 155-57, 237, 288-92, 332-33, 341
groundbreaking ceremony of, 89, 106-7
highest altitude of, 206, 210, 244
initial investors in, 70-73, 105, 106, 121, 122, 196-97, 360, 379-80
inspections of, 158-60, 165, 297, 300, 311-12, 313-14
labor on, 107, 110, 118-20, 121, 147-48, 149-50, 152-55, 163, 198, 204-5, 206, 210, 231-32, 233-34, 240-42, 243, 246, 247, 281, 289, 298, 300, 306, 311-12, 314-15, 332-33, 349, 354, 378
land grants to, 101, 103, 124, 238
lobbying by, 193, 321-22
locomotives of, 102, 115, 117, 124, 147, 298, 307, 312, 325, 331-32, 361
Mormon contractors used on, 288-90, 291-92
new states served by, 18
passenger service of, 121-22, 124, 148-49, 203, 306-8, 323, 360, 361
photos of construction on, 122
political attacks on, 305, 318-20, 373, 374
profitability of, 104, 121-22, 124, 149, 166, 238, 306
n
-7
n,
374
promotional excursions of, 118, 120-21, 159
quality vs. speed in building of, 117, 252, 297, 300, 312, 323, 338-39
rates of progress on, 148-49, 155, 161, 165, 166, 195, 201, 203, 206, 230, 231, 236, 244-45, 247, 252, 297-301, 305-9, 310, 312, 315-17, 332, 345, 346-52
rival railroads' charges against, 111, 122-23
rolling stock of, 124, 298
route of, 98, 112, 124, 201-2, 237-38, 286, 299, 305, 306, 312, 313, 316-17,
319, 343
Sacramento office of, 103-4
Sierra Nevada route of, 19, 74-75, 109-10, 118, 162-63, 230, 231, 244, 247-48, 306-8,
343
snow problems on, 147, 233, 234-35, 245, 302-4, 305, 323-24
Southern Pacific as successor to, 165, 377-78, 379, 380
speed of, 121, 323
stock sales of, 124, 165-66, 230
supply transport on, 19-20, 118, 147, 203, 206, 231, 234, 237, 249, 301, 308-10, 321, 331
towns developed along, 304, 309, 311, 313
track-laying on, 118, 244, 311-12, 315, 346-52
tunnels built by, 20, 75, 78, 104, 124, 147, 155-56, 160-61, 196, 197, 202, 203, 204-5, 206, 207, 230, 231-32, 233-34, 235-36, 244, 291, 307
UP rivalry with, 155, 193-94, 201, 203, 225, 230-31, 238-39, 241, 242-43, 244, 247, 248, 249, 252, 274, 277, 282-83, 290-92, 300, 304-5, 306, 313, 316-17, 322-23, 337-40, 341-42, 346-52, 362-63, 365, 371-72
wagon road constructed for, 72, 76-77, 104, 111, 112, 195, 233
water supplies of, 195-96, 202, 230, 237, 301, 309
weather problems experienced by, 147, 195, 197-98, 203-6, 231, 232-34, 245, 296, 302-3, 305, 323-24, 331
Chandler, Alfred D., 100
Charles Crocker Contract and Finance Company, 105-6, 111, 165, 246-47, 321, 339, 375
Chesapeake & Ohio, 379
Cheyenne, Wyo., 220-21, 227, 228, 229,
251,
259, 263, 271
Cheyennes, 130, 136, 172-73, 211, 214, 222, 225-26, 265
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad,
126
Chicago and Northern Railroad, 254
Chicago Howe Truss Bridge Company, 211
Chinese workers:
backgrounds of, 152-53
blasting expertise of, 235, 236
Cape Horn grading work of, 156-57
China returned to by, 164, 165
Cornish miners vs., 200
on CP construction, 18, 21, 149-58, 159, 161-62, 164-65, 198, 204-5, 231, 240-42, 243, 247, 298, 300, 308, 310, 327, 378
discrimination against, 150-51, 153, 378
Dodge on, 349
in domestic service, 151, 153
after end of CP construction, 164-65
fatalities of, 204, 205, 206, 236, 237
food provided for, 161-62, 232, 289
Indians feared by, 310
industry of, 315
Irish workers' conflicts with, 327
living conditions of, 161-62, 204, 231, 232
numbers of, 198, 237, 298
recruitment of, 243
strike by, 240-42
on Trans-Siberian Railway, 18
wages of, 300
white foremen as bosses of, 231, 311
Chinn, Thomas W., 204
Civil War:
codes used in, 292
end of, 133
former slaves' participation in, 86
military railroad work in, 84-85, 96
national optimism after, 253
onset of, 41, 73, 74, 102
as organizational model, 19, 172, 253, 283, 353
prisoners of war in, 119
progress of, 77, 79, 80, 88, 96-98, 103, 110, 111-12, 114-15, 118, 123
railroad blasting power vs., 119, 158
railroads constructed by veterans of, 17, 18-19, 21, 137, 143-44, 172, 177, 218, 253
riots in Northern cities during, 114
Clark, William, 19, 38, 42, 59, 100, 127, 143, 356
Clarke, Thomas Curtis, 25
Clay, Henry, 27, 87-88, 100
Clayton, D. B., 182
Clement, Lewis M., 364, 382
background of, 110
on blasting operations, 160, 201
Cape Horn grading overseen by, 157
construction progress urged by, 203
on costs, 111, 301
as CP engineer, 19, 116, 117, 316
on Crocker's construction oversight, 163-64
curved tunnel routes laid out by, 232
on laborers' defections to mining, 148
on locomotives for supply transport, 147
on railroads' Ogden union, 340
on roadbed clearing of tree stumps, 158
snowsheds designed by, 235, 302, 304
Summit Tunnel engineered by, 244
Utah construction led by, 291, 316, 332
on water supplies, 309
coal mining, 128, 189, 220, 224
Cochran, Thomas, 93, 193
codes, 292
Cogswell, Milton, 363
Cohen, Alfred, 197
Cole, Cornelius, 71, 72, 154
Coley, George, 349
Colfax, Schuyler, 158, 159, 275, 367, 374
Collins, Casper, 130
Commager, Henry Steele, 376
Congress, U.S.:
on CP-UP connection point, 193, 194, 238, 255, 291, 304-5, 340, 341, 371, 372
Crédit Mobilier shareholders in, 227, 320, 339, 374
on domestic iron usage, 14, 301
lobbying on transcontinental railroad in, 59-61, 64-68, 75-76, 193-94, 196, 321-22
partisan control of, 70
railroad finances investigated by, 373-75
on railroad routes, 31, 304-5
transcontinental railway legislation of, 75-76, 77-81, 89, 94-96, 101, 147, 254, 304-5
on UP financial dispute, 336-37, 339
Wyoming territorial status granted by, 210
n
construction workers:
African-American, 177, 241, 274
age of, 295-96
blasting operations of, 119-20, 138, 155, 156-58, 160-61, 199-201, 204, 231-36
Chinese,
see
Chinese workers
Civil War veterans as, 21, 137, 143-44, 172, 177, 218, 253
cooperative teamwork of, 213, 287
Cornish miners as, 200
CP-UP rivalry of, 327
daily routines of, 179, 232
dangers undergone by, 156-58, 160, 200-201, 204-5, 267-68
drinking habits of, 162, 176, 217, 219, 257-58, 286, 296, 378
fatalities of, 201, 204-5, 206, 233, 236, 237, 264-65, 267-68, 326
food provided for, 138, 161-62, 177, 179, 182, 183, 232, 289
grading work of, 118, 119-20, 136-39, 147, 323
health care of, 137
Indian hostilities as threat to, 173, 211, 214-15, 220, 310
injuries to, 120, 156, 164, 231
Irish, 18, 21, 118-20, 296, 327, 349, 378
living conditions of, 22, 137, 138, 161-62, 177-78, 179, 204, 231, 232, 293, 309, 315
management style and, 120, 137-38, 198, 201, 314-15
Mormon, 189, 242, 261, 281-91, 294-95, 316, 327
n,
329
numbers of, 18, 17, 181, 198, 206, 210, 211, 284
physical demands on, 21, 118, 178, 296
recreational activities of, 217-18, 219-20, 353, 372
release of, 354-55
slang terms developed by, 182
snow removal by, 147, 302-3, 305
songs of, 138, 179, 286-87
strike actions of, 137, 198, 240-42, 329, 378
on telegraph vs. railroad track, 257
wages of, 107, 118, 122, 137, 148, 153, 178, 179, 198, 240, 241, 242, 275, 283, 285, 294, 296, 300, 302, 329, 351, 359
weather extremes experienced by, 147, 178, 203-6, 231, 232, 296, 323, 324-25
Western mining opportunities of, 107, 119, 121, 148, 154
work pace maintained by, 179, 181, 182-83, 231, 275, 311-12, 346-52
Continental Divide, 45, 87, 128, 136, 216, 223
Cooke, Philip St. George, 174
“coolies,” 150
Corinne, Utah,
319,
337, 353, 354
cottonwood, 133, 139-40, 187, 227, 252, 274
Council Bluffs, Iowa, 33-34, 35, 36, 37, 38-39, 254, 276
Cox, Jacob Dolson, 281-82, 335
Cox, S. S. “Sunset,” 96
CP,
see
Central Pacific Railroad
C. P. Huntington,
115, 122
Crane, H. C., 257, 259
Crane, James, 286-87
Crédit Mobilier of America, 131
construction contracts signed over to, 93, 99
creation of, 92-93
Contract and Finance Company vs., 105, 246
directors of, 281
dividends paid by, 227, 270, 277, 318, 320, 374-75
holdings of congressmen in, 227, 320, 339, 374
political scandal over, 320-21, 373-75
profitability of, 98, 374
stockholders of, 132, 140, 190, 226, 320
UP finances vs., 139, 212, 227, 270, 277, 336
Creighton, Harry, 175
Crocker, Charles, 19, 154, 206, 364, 380
background of, 43-44